Victorian police will adopt multi-agency prevention and early intervention strategies similar to those used in the UK in a bid to tackle alarming car theft rates.

The state has the highest vehicle theft figures in the country, recording 15,914 crimes, or 36% of all passenger and light commercial (PLC) vehicle thefts, in the year to last September, despite having only 26% of Australian-registered PLC vehicles in the state.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Betts from the UK’s West Midlands Police told the Australian Vehicle Crime Conference in April that his force introduced a co-ordinated multi-agency approach to the delivery of youth justice services in the mid-2000s.

The model assumes that strong partnerships across health, social welfare and justice agencies are a prerequisite to adequately addressing young offending.

The number of first-time entrants to the UK juvenile justice system fell from 110,000 in 2007 to about 10,000 in 2015.

Challenges remain around a small cohort of high-rate offenders, but recent evaluations confirm that every pound spent in related programs saves at least two in re-offending costs, he says.

Victoria’s Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane says the state is pursuing a similar approach, combining prevention strategies that include community engagement, child abuse reporting, specialist services, referrals, and prosecuting adult offenders who offend against children.

Police are applying early-intervention actions such as cautioning and diversion and referral to specialist programs, as well as traditional prosecution.